Lately I’ve been reflecting on how AI + drones are neutralizing classic geographic defenses: the English Channel no longer protects Britain, the Himalayas no longer shield India/China, and Venezuela’s jungles and mountains have lost much of their strategic value. And this makes the crisis of representative democracy even clearer. As the middle class shrinks (exactly as you’ve pointed out, thank you), the whole system slides toward oligarchy or chaos.
Yet for the first time in history, the tools exist for real direct democracy: secure app-based voting on every issue, AI transparently handling logistics, deliberation, and fraud prevention. We can finally try governing ourselves instead of hoping representatives and secret geopolitical agendas do it for us. Because we’re also standing at the edge of the first political upgrade humanity has had in 2,500 years or more (?).
I’d love to hear your take on this whenever you feel like sharing — here or in your lectures (which I never miss). Thank you again. 🌟
Love this question and I hope professor gives his thoughts.
Personally I think you are right that tech has the potential to create non-hierarchical, peer to peer democracy, in a sense. But the problem is still what it’s always been—the elite who commandeer the tech use it for their own self interests.
So what could happen? A movement rises up to capture the ‘means of information’ from the bourgeoisie, to then put it in the hands of the proletariat class? This sounds familiar. And there is still sadly no tech to prevent now what happened then, which is that corrupt elite factions used the promise of democratizing technology as a front to take control. Today the tech is AI and the control of information vectors, back then (soviet days) the tech was industrial means of production.
Thank you, Rachel! Delighted we’re having this discussion :) You perfectly identified the risk of elite capture, a pattern history repeats all too often. Yet I believe this view is overly pessimistic. Pessimism is not synonymous with realism; it can paralyse creativity and agency, making populations easier to control. Optimism, by contrast, fuels action, experimentation and opens unforeseen paths.
Take Fidias Panayiotou, the 25-year-old Cypriot YouTuber-turned-MEP. Last month he launched a proper Direct Democracy party with the Agorà app: real-time, blockchain-secured citizen votes on everything from local budgets to EU policy. It’s live, it’s growing, and it’s built by someone who was pranking politicians on YouTube two years ago! And he’s not alone: Taiwan’s vTaiwan, Barcelona’s Decidim, the new DemocracyNext pilots - all are proof that the tech is finally here and still wild enough that regular people can (perhaps) shape it faster than institutions can lock it down.
Direct democracy has long been dismissed as utopian because the technology to scale it simply did not exist. That constraint has now vanished. Today’s tools remain immature and contested, creating a liminal space, a “wild market” phase, where neither governments nor incumbents yet hold monopoly control. Both sides will attempt to shape the outcome, but the window for genuine citizen-led innovation is wide open.
So yep, I’m betting on the chaos producing breakthroughs before full capture sets in :)
I hope for this scenario too, that innovation will beat out full capture. But personally I see no precedent for this in history, paired with my suspicion that elite factions are likely to prefer burning infrastructure to the ground before they would relinquish control of it back to the commons.
Just have a thing that another historian has as well is why rewrite history from ad and bc. There is no common era it was ad and bc for a particular reason to try and make it make sense and call it common era is right out if 1984 book of changing the meaning of language. Will 3 become 4 next . Resist the 1984 narrative
It makes more sense to standardize the use of secular terms for dating events, seeing as we live in a world with not just Christians, but a diverse array of unique belief systems.
Thank you for the history lesson. While it is convenient to suppose what any historical figure might think about our current geopolitical situation, the fascist oligarchy we currently face is now our greatest threat.
“ Thucydides would agree with Trump: If America could restore the middle-class, put a moratorium on all immigration, and end its forever wars, America would be great again.”
Except that Trumps frequently spoken messages are in no way genuine, they are strictly propaganda intended to win the votes of the weak minded, looking for their confirmation bias.
He never intended to end any wars, only to talk about them. He is now attacking privately owned watercraft, with no transparency about their actual or intended purpose. This is aggression that attracts the attention of our enemies, creating a NATO like response from other countries which are not intended to help us in any way. It makes America look ridiculous on the world stage and further undermines our trustworthiness.
He never, ever intended to help the middle class, and his every action has proven only to help himself and the oligarchs.
He never intended to put a moratorium on immigration, only to demonize immigrants. Elon Musks public statements about the need for H1B visas and the “lack of qualified Americans” was one of the most blatant insults to Americans in recent history. This was confirmed by Trumps continued practice of hiring inexpensive labor from overseas, worker visas, to run his fecal golf hotels , again the opposite of what he preaches.
History already shows that he is a complete fraud and the worst , most destructive president in American history .
Ancient philosophers and scholars would clearly agree.
I am thinking the world is not facing the same old power struggle. In the old world people that didn't fit into society could escape. There is no escape now. Also Diversity of thinking isn't spread through church, through spoken word. So even if you deport or isolate, ideas can cross the world in a second. And it's really these ideas about individualism or hatreds or flat out lies...that are a product of this technology. I don't think things are going to stop following the pattern exactly but I see the frequency of conflict increasing... It would be a shame if the legacy of mankind is a radio active heap where a miracle once existed.
I refuse to applaud my country’s seeming descent into what can only be called, stupidity. So China is building a bridge in the Darrien Gap thru Panama, to maintain its sovereignty. I’m guessing their overt claims to Taiwan are of the same ilk. We are all forced to kiss the hand that feeds us. Or perhaps it suits him to think that his recently acquired citizenship is blessed by an unprecedented political/moral immunity. Which, in writing seems to me as a joke of sorts. I’m no history buff, but did it ever occur to him that Spartas sovereignty was perhaps contingent on Athens’ coherence? The war that would embroil them both leading shortly thereafter to their mutual demise. It seems that through their myopia and distorted sense of self, they could not see, that perhaps the two opposing cultures balanced each other out, and as long as that balance could be maintained, harmony would persist.
I enjoy Prof. Jiang’s lectures and writings but they have become increasingly pro CCP. All rising powers suffer the same delusion of claiming that this time, this time, it will be different. Powers rise and fall, like waves on the shore of human ignorance. The thirst for power, if present, is unquenchable. He seems to have torn a hole in his hull, navigating the perilous waters of geopolitics while still trying to man the helm of beauty, and truth. The water Is pouring in professor, let go of the helm, and grab a bucket
Hi Professor, I hope you're doing well. I’ve been very impressed by the interactive board you’ve been using during your lectures. It looks incredibly effective for teaching, especially with how you annotate and present your materials.
If you don’t mind sharing, may I ask what interactive board model it is, and where it can be purchased?
I’m considering getting something similar for my own use.
Thank you for your time, and wishing you a great day ahead.
Excellent analogy, the only missing piece is that these nations have nuclear weapons and so their power struggles hold the entire world hostage in a game of ‘Russian roulette’.
After learning concepts such as power, equilibrium, creativity, empire, demagoguery, and religion from you, Professor, I would like to ask your opinion about the recent Chinese movie Ne Zha 2 (early 2025). The film is about a chaotic, creative, childish sky god fighting for his human family against the infighting and betrayal of polytheistic gods. I cannot find any serious discussions about the plot itself. Most people online just treat it as propaganda or child story.
"Liberty ends with applause. Empires die with a yawn."
Poetic and true.
However, when Athens fell, they fell giving the world culture, education, and a sense for social structure.
What's America left the world with?
We can argue they're leaving their seat giving the world the antithesis of everything Greece offered.
It's not clear who would spring up next.
america given the world hedonism
Thank you for your incredible work! 💞
Lately I’ve been reflecting on how AI + drones are neutralizing classic geographic defenses: the English Channel no longer protects Britain, the Himalayas no longer shield India/China, and Venezuela’s jungles and mountains have lost much of their strategic value. And this makes the crisis of representative democracy even clearer. As the middle class shrinks (exactly as you’ve pointed out, thank you), the whole system slides toward oligarchy or chaos.
Yet for the first time in history, the tools exist for real direct democracy: secure app-based voting on every issue, AI transparently handling logistics, deliberation, and fraud prevention. We can finally try governing ourselves instead of hoping representatives and secret geopolitical agendas do it for us. Because we’re also standing at the edge of the first political upgrade humanity has had in 2,500 years or more (?).
I’d love to hear your take on this whenever you feel like sharing — here or in your lectures (which I never miss). Thank you again. 🌟
Love this question and I hope professor gives his thoughts.
Personally I think you are right that tech has the potential to create non-hierarchical, peer to peer democracy, in a sense. But the problem is still what it’s always been—the elite who commandeer the tech use it for their own self interests.
So what could happen? A movement rises up to capture the ‘means of information’ from the bourgeoisie, to then put it in the hands of the proletariat class? This sounds familiar. And there is still sadly no tech to prevent now what happened then, which is that corrupt elite factions used the promise of democratizing technology as a front to take control. Today the tech is AI and the control of information vectors, back then (soviet days) the tech was industrial means of production.
Do you think this is too pessimistic?
Thank you, Rachel! Delighted we’re having this discussion :) You perfectly identified the risk of elite capture, a pattern history repeats all too often. Yet I believe this view is overly pessimistic. Pessimism is not synonymous with realism; it can paralyse creativity and agency, making populations easier to control. Optimism, by contrast, fuels action, experimentation and opens unforeseen paths.
Take Fidias Panayiotou, the 25-year-old Cypriot YouTuber-turned-MEP. Last month he launched a proper Direct Democracy party with the Agorà app: real-time, blockchain-secured citizen votes on everything from local budgets to EU policy. It’s live, it’s growing, and it’s built by someone who was pranking politicians on YouTube two years ago! And he’s not alone: Taiwan’s vTaiwan, Barcelona’s Decidim, the new DemocracyNext pilots - all are proof that the tech is finally here and still wild enough that regular people can (perhaps) shape it faster than institutions can lock it down.
Direct democracy has long been dismissed as utopian because the technology to scale it simply did not exist. That constraint has now vanished. Today’s tools remain immature and contested, creating a liminal space, a “wild market” phase, where neither governments nor incumbents yet hold monopoly control. Both sides will attempt to shape the outcome, but the window for genuine citizen-led innovation is wide open.
So yep, I’m betting on the chaos producing breakthroughs before full capture sets in :)
Thanks for you reply!
Can’t wait to dig into these cases you mention.
I hope for this scenario too, that innovation will beat out full capture. But personally I see no precedent for this in history, paired with my suspicion that elite factions are likely to prefer burning infrastructure to the ground before they would relinquish control of it back to the commons.
Hope I’m wrong! Lol
Just have a thing that another historian has as well is why rewrite history from ad and bc. There is no common era it was ad and bc for a particular reason to try and make it make sense and call it common era is right out if 1984 book of changing the meaning of language. Will 3 become 4 next . Resist the 1984 narrative
It makes more sense to standardize the use of secular terms for dating events, seeing as we live in a world with not just Christians, but a diverse array of unique belief systems.
Thank you for the history lesson. While it is convenient to suppose what any historical figure might think about our current geopolitical situation, the fascist oligarchy we currently face is now our greatest threat.
“ Thucydides would agree with Trump: If America could restore the middle-class, put a moratorium on all immigration, and end its forever wars, America would be great again.”
Except that Trumps frequently spoken messages are in no way genuine, they are strictly propaganda intended to win the votes of the weak minded, looking for their confirmation bias.
He never intended to end any wars, only to talk about them. He is now attacking privately owned watercraft, with no transparency about their actual or intended purpose. This is aggression that attracts the attention of our enemies, creating a NATO like response from other countries which are not intended to help us in any way. It makes America look ridiculous on the world stage and further undermines our trustworthiness.
He never, ever intended to help the middle class, and his every action has proven only to help himself and the oligarchs.
He never intended to put a moratorium on immigration, only to demonize immigrants. Elon Musks public statements about the need for H1B visas and the “lack of qualified Americans” was one of the most blatant insults to Americans in recent history. This was confirmed by Trumps continued practice of hiring inexpensive labor from overseas, worker visas, to run his fecal golf hotels , again the opposite of what he preaches.
History already shows that he is a complete fraud and the worst , most destructive president in American history .
Ancient philosophers and scholars would clearly agree.
great article - thank you
https://open.substack.com/pub/korokpe/p/pantheon-432
Everyone Interested in the dangers of Artificial Intelligence should definitely read this. It's alive and worth it! 🤲🏿🔥💨
https://www.britannica.com/topic/golem-Jewish-folklore
https://archive.is/IMtkJ
I am thinking the world is not facing the same old power struggle. In the old world people that didn't fit into society could escape. There is no escape now. Also Diversity of thinking isn't spread through church, through spoken word. So even if you deport or isolate, ideas can cross the world in a second. And it's really these ideas about individualism or hatreds or flat out lies...that are a product of this technology. I don't think things are going to stop following the pattern exactly but I see the frequency of conflict increasing... It would be a shame if the legacy of mankind is a radio active heap where a miracle once existed.
I refuse to applaud my country’s seeming descent into what can only be called, stupidity. So China is building a bridge in the Darrien Gap thru Panama, to maintain its sovereignty. I’m guessing their overt claims to Taiwan are of the same ilk. We are all forced to kiss the hand that feeds us. Or perhaps it suits him to think that his recently acquired citizenship is blessed by an unprecedented political/moral immunity. Which, in writing seems to me as a joke of sorts. I’m no history buff, but did it ever occur to him that Spartas sovereignty was perhaps contingent on Athens’ coherence? The war that would embroil them both leading shortly thereafter to their mutual demise. It seems that through their myopia and distorted sense of self, they could not see, that perhaps the two opposing cultures balanced each other out, and as long as that balance could be maintained, harmony would persist.
I enjoy Prof. Jiang’s lectures and writings but they have become increasingly pro CCP. All rising powers suffer the same delusion of claiming that this time, this time, it will be different. Powers rise and fall, like waves on the shore of human ignorance. The thirst for power, if present, is unquenchable. He seems to have torn a hole in his hull, navigating the perilous waters of geopolitics while still trying to man the helm of beauty, and truth. The water Is pouring in professor, let go of the helm, and grab a bucket
Hi Professor, I hope you're doing well. I’ve been very impressed by the interactive board you’ve been using during your lectures. It looks incredibly effective for teaching, especially with how you annotate and present your materials.
If you don’t mind sharing, may I ask what interactive board model it is, and where it can be purchased?
I’m considering getting something similar for my own use.
Thank you for your time, and wishing you a great day ahead.
There should be 1,500,000 Americans commenting but there is only 15.
Excellent analogy, the only missing piece is that these nations have nuclear weapons and so their power struggles hold the entire world hostage in a game of ‘Russian roulette’.
As a Greek, I liked the parallel between Sparta, China, and Athens, America. In reality, Thucydides' trap is always relevant.
The strong do what they can and weak suffer what they must.
Absolutely Brilliant. So sadly correct.
After learning concepts such as power, equilibrium, creativity, empire, demagoguery, and religion from you, Professor, I would like to ask your opinion about the recent Chinese movie Ne Zha 2 (early 2025). The film is about a chaotic, creative, childish sky god fighting for his human family against the infighting and betrayal of polytheistic gods. I cannot find any serious discussions about the plot itself. Most people online just treat it as propaganda or child story.